When I looked at the AHL standings last in early January, Manchester, Grand Rapids and Springfield were in the race for the AHL lead. Manchester is pulling away with the lead in the points race. This is because they have played three more games than Grand Rapids and four more games than Springfield. Currently, they have a two point lead on Springfield and three on Grand Rapids. That lead might not be safe when teams catch up in terms of games played.

I thought Manchester's secret weapon would be that Martin Jones was a star goalie in the NHL who would be returned to the AHL. That has changed when Los Angeles (the Manchester affiliate) trading Ben Scrivens to Edmonton and making a spot for him on their NHL roster. Now their chances of staying atop the league do not look as good.

I think Springfield is the team to beat. However they haven't won in their last three games played and that has kept their opponents in the race.

Will Manchester keep their lead or will they get caught? We will have to watch and see.

Manchester do not actually have a lead. The difference in games played is the only reason they are technically in first. Both Springfield and Grand Rapids have better points percentages and Texas have the same percentage, meaning that Manchester is really tied for third overall.

I’m quite surprised he actually bothered to look at games played this time. Obviously, point percentage is the best way to see who is actually leading the league but he seems unable to look at that column in the standings.
Whatever.
Springfield should be awesome. Columbus has probably averaged 2-3 picks before Detroit got the first pick the last 10 years. The Griffins are benefiting from great drafting and development and IF they get more players back, I would be surprised if they don’t move up the point % ranks.

Posted by
mrfluffy
from A wide spot on I-90 in Montana on 01/28/14 at 11:48 AM ET

Don’t get me wrong; I really like these posts about the AHL and other non-NHL leagues. I just think at this point he (understandably) short changes the Griffs points-per-game pace to tweak the legion of Wings fans that make his blogging life miserable. I could be wrong. Of course, there’s also sole validity to the argument that a point in hand is better than two in the bush.